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Some could say the 76ers finally ran out of gas. Or that the Detroit Pistons finally woke up.

Or maybe a combination of both. However the season is officially over after Thursday's 100-77 loss to the Pistons.

In reality, the Sixers probably won one more game than many (including this reporter) expected against the Pistons.

The problems that plagued the Sixers from their first game of the season in Toronto, didn't go away. They had trouble defending the pick and roll. They allowed too many wide open shots. And they didn't have a lot of success defending off the dribble.

In addition, the Sixers had difficulty executing their half-court offense. The most misleading stat of the game was that the Sixers outscored the Pistons, 21-9 in fastbreak points. Of course, 14 of those fastbreak points came in the second half, when the game was already over.

At least by losing decisively in the last 10 quarters, starting with the second half of Game 4, the Sixers won't enter the off-season with false hope.

The roster doesn't have to be totally revamped, but a minimum of one impact player at shooting guard and/or power forward has to be added.

And there will be questions whether the Sixers should upgrade at center, especially with how inconsistent Samuel Dalembert was against the Pistons.

But there is a lot of time for those questions. For now, the Sixers should be proud of the fact that they overachieved, but should also realize that the last three games of this series showed how much work the organization has to do during this offseason.